In a standard procedure for insulating conductors or conductor bundles of a rotating electrical machine, tapes, consisting, for example, of a fiber-glass carrier and mica paper, are wrapped in layers in a spiral shape around the conductor, for example, a stator conductor, until the desired insulation thickness is achieved. Such an insulation tape and associated method are described, for example, in EP 0 790 623 B1.
By using an impregnation, for example, with a suitable synthetic resin, any remaining air can be purged from the resulting insulation winding, whereby the tape layers are at the same time bonded to each other. The insulation receives its final shape by hardening in a suitable mold.
In modern methods for producing an insulation, a suitable, powdered or liquid insulation agent is applied to the component to be insulated. This is done, for example, by a suitable spraying process or another suitable coating process.
In larger components that must undergo such processing, the problem exists, however, that these components bend as a result of their own weight, if they are only supported at their end sections. However, if a coating, in particular, an insulation, is applied when such a deformation is present, the coating or insulation can be damaged in the installed condition of the component. This problem is encountered, for example, with bar-shaped conductors that may have a length of several meters.
To avoid the mentioned disadvantages, for example, winding robots that have several holding pliers for holding the bar-shaped conductors at several points, and in this way support it, are used. To permit the application of a winding on the conductor at such holding pliers point, the respective holdings pliers open and move away automatically. Once the respective support point has been wound, the corresponding holding pliers returns to its support position and closes again to restore the support of the conductor. However, such a procedure is not suitable for coatings that work with coating agents that must harden immediately after their application. The reason for this is that the holding pliers can only return to their holding positions and touch the component for support once this hardening process at the respective holding point has been completed. A numerical example will make this problem clear: A bar-shaped conductor is supposed to be provided with insulation over a length of 10 meters. In order to prevent bending of the bar, the bar is fixed over the length to be coated with 10 holding pliers. The insulation is supposed to be applied using a spraying method, working, for example, an application speed of 1 m/s. In the example, the hardening of the sprayed-on insulating agent shall take 1 minute. Accordingly, the spray application must be interrupted for approximately 1 minute after moving past each holding point, or the application speed must be reduced to 1 m/min until the released holding pliers is again able to assume its support function. Overall, this results in a total application time of approximately 10 minutes. This means that the coating of such conductors takes much longer than the actual spraying process with a speed of 1 m/s. The coating could indeed be accelerated by providing fewer support points, but this again would mean that a greater bending would have to be tolerated. Such a coating, applied by using such a frequently interrupted spraying process, also does not have an especially high quality, in particular with respect to homogeneity.